Some motor vehicles are sold as "chassis cab" vehicles. As is known to those in the art, they are incomplete vehicles, each with a completed occupant compartment (the "cab"), that require only the addition of cargo-carrying, work-performing, or load-bearing components to perform their intended functions. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,791,681 and 5,746,441, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
One particular type of chassis cab vehicle which is very popular is sold by the Ford Motor Company of Dearborn, Mich. as the "Super Duty Chassis Cab" and, in particular, as the "Super Duty F-350 Chassis Cab," the "Super Duty F-450 Chassis Cab," and the "Super-Duty F-550 Chassis Cab." These vehicles are described, e.g., in a Ford publication entitled "1999 Super Duty F-Series" identified as "304- Ann. Litho in U.S.A. 3/98." In the remainder of this specification, these vehicles will be referred to as the "Super Duty Chassis Cab."
The Ford "Super Duty Chassis Cab" is an incomplete vehicle. Most chassis cabs, which are also incomplete, may be completed by the addition of, e.g., a cargo-carrying component such as, e.g., a pickup box. Pickup boxes for use with such chassis cabs are well known to those skilled in the art and are described, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,865,495, 5,862,926, 5,800,106, 4,288,188, 5,0114,890, 5,338,136, 4,083,312, Des. 289,698, 4,818,162, 5,799,849, 5,730,486, 5,636,893, 5,603,439, 5,582,048, 5,575,525, 5,566,963, 5,556,152, 5,544,932, 5,512,848, 5,492,259, 5,486,031, 5,445,482, 5,427,487, 5,405,226, 5,385,377, 5,3350,271, and the like. The disclosure of each of these United States patents is hereby incorporated by reference into this specification.
By way of further illustration, Scherer Truck Equipment, Inc. of 2670 Auburn Road, Auburn Hills, Mich. sells and installs a "Super Duty Tower (SDT)" pickup body for the Ford Super Duty chassis cabs. No installation kit is currently available for the installation of the Scherer pickup body, and Scherer does not allow anyone besides itself to install such pickup bodies; it is believed that the accessories used to install the Scherer pickup body are substantially different than applicant's system, but applicant is not sure of their configurations.
By way of yet further illustration, the Fontaine Modification Company of 11400 Westport Road, Louisville, Ky. sells a "Classic Traveler Bed" for installation on the Ford Superduty 350, 450, and 550 Cab Chassis. Fontaine is the only one allowed to install this system, and it is not known what accessories they use in such installation; however, it is not believed that such accessories are structurally similar to applicant's installation kit.
To, to the best of applicant's knowledge, the commercially available pickup boxes cannot readily be mounted to the Ford Super Duty Chassis Cab trucks; substantial modification of the chassis cabs is required to install the pickup boxes. It does not appear that there is any available kit which allows one to readily mount a conventional pickup box onto the chassis of such trucks.
It is an object of this invention to provide a kit for the mounting of a pickup box onto a Ford Super Duty Chassis Cab truck so that, once the pickup box is installed, a strong, safe, and durable structure is produced.
It is another object of this invention to provide an installation kit for the mounting of a pickup box onto a truck chassis which can be bolted to such chassis.